Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-12-04

him the very picture OF woe, wishing him
a pleasant nights rest. Next morning he
was over again with the same request
said he hadn't been able to sleep a wink
| told him I'd done my share, and go |
wouldn't. Well, we did have sport over
poor Jacks bear, and | believe he would
have stayed Gagged till he died of starva-
ton, ifthe haggard expression of Persim-
mons eyes and pity for the beast had not
touched the heart Of one of the boys stay
ing with me. So he went over one day,
and stopped Bruins roaring, and gave
Door jack a chance for q good nights rest
again. He never set the trap atterward.
"As | said, Jack lived in q shake cabin.
You have seen them-the shakes are rived
out of the sugar pine, which splits straight
as II sawed, and thin as ribbon; the frame
is made Of poles and spiked together, the
whole held firm by poles across the
square, rooted and weather boarded with
the shakes, no ceiling. 4 home made
table, same material, two or three camp
stools butt of a log with a shake nailed
across comprised the furniture OF Persim-
Jacks mansion. He slept on a pole
bunk, occupying the space from the door
TO the end of the end OF the cabin. To
make his home burglar proof at night he
would shove the table IN against the door,
W hose deer string and wooden latch was
the only fastening. The last visit Jack
paid me WAS one morning when he came
over looking 81 haggard and wild eyed
that be almost frightened me. why
Jack said l, what on eaTth's the matter?
are you sick?'
"''Don't feel very pert, he replied.
level, what's up
After repeated intCrrogatioEs he final
IL answered, Well, $, I've got to leave
the range. Can't stand it any longer
"'Cau't stJnd what
why. them CuSSed hears! I've lost
halt Iuy calves, an if / stay a little longer
III lose my carcass, TOO And Persim-
mon Jack puckered his mouth and conf
meuccd digging Il hole in the groupd with
the heel Of his boot, and looked the very
DISQUALIFICATION Of despair.
What's their latest wrinklc?' l
asked.
"'Wall,' said he, last night | showed
the table agjn the door an went to bed rs
usual. About midnight | thought l
heard the table move, but, after listening,
concluded | was mistaken. Just got into
a doze agin when the table did move. |
sot up in he'd, and what did | see hut an
old bear, with his ~torepaws IN the foot of
my hunk, a-looking me straight in the
eyes. He raised one paw and give a grunt,
an | GOT up an got a-Straddle one Of the
stringin's; but | tell you, S, il was
the toughest job | ever struck a-tryin' to
hold on to that striugin'. An that
old devil of o brute smelled
round the shanty, pulled down a
sack OF sugar an eat that, an then he
turned his attention 10 me. He sot down
on his hunkers right under meand growled.
IN be gol darned if ii didn't make the
cold shivers run down the spine OF my
back. Then he'd walk round the cabin,
an come back. an squat right under ME
an growl an suarl an show his teeth
agiu Then he stood upon his hind
"sledge runners" an tried to paw me; an
| tell you it was tight %nippin'- by drawin'
up my legs he'd just miss them with his
paw. An there | had 10 sot all night,
a-holdin' on to that rough strindin' with
both hands, an drawin' mp my legs out o.
the way O. that old grizzly's paws; S,
nv jints an sinners Is that sore this morn
in / kin hardly walk. | can't stand it,
s., I've got to git out o these dig
gins
The poor fellow was stiff sure enough;
but the picture my fancy painted Of poor
Jack astride that rough harGed bare pole,
drawing up his muscles to their utmost
tension, while old bruin-anxious for a
good quare meal-acted on the same prin-
ciple from below, was all so ridiculous that
| laughed till Persimmon Jack hobbled of
mad "a a March hare.
That was his last visit. A few weeks
l heard some OF bis vaqueros round
ing up his cattle, aud the text thing l
knew his range Mas vacant.
= =.
Yesterday "a | was vending my way
campward at noon, hungry and tired, an
old buck-a five poiuter-roussd from bis
siesta under the pineS-trotted ~lelsurely
across the trail and along the slope. |
sent a ball as we'll aimed as | knew how,
Dut lie uGlLUti, STAT hOuth " iuNANLNtA lis
gait. Que, two, three, with the same re-
suit. What did it mean? Was my eye
warped, gun barrel crooked or was this
old resident impervious 10 lead? As l
raised M gun Tor the fourth round he
suddenly stopped, shook his massive an
lers, and drapped in his tracks, dead IS q
stone. Upon examination | found that
every ball had struck him i'll a vital part.
In dressing him | came 20 a hard gristiy
lump under the skin. Cutting it OPen l
found a battered ounce ball of lead. On a
closer inspection / found that it had gone
clear through him between the heart and
liver, struck against q rib on the other
side, and nature had covered il over, and
there it had remained for years. What
hunter ''cussed" and blamed his bad luck
as that old buck bounded away. And old
Mr.. Fiveprong might have had another
story TO tell his grandchildren about one
of nv balls, but the breech loader, with
its little arsenal was too many for him.
Three more days of this glorious sport
headache oil gone, appetite-why we could
have digested q medium sized gridiron.
Our camp looked like q regular packing
establishment-hams and shoulders and
straps" smoked just enough to
keep nice and sweet, presents for our
city friends. That last day-how
well 1 remember it! We had been far
down the valley for q last grand hunt.
Toward evening, the fog from the plains
below came drifting toward rs. We
our faces campward. As it settled
round us, the air grew almost IS dark as
night. In crossing the canyons, somehow
we got separated from each other. Heavily
laden with a saddle of venison apiece, we
mp the rocky steps, sometimes
crawling on our hadds and knees under
the dense u~nderbrush, and around awful
chasms, through which the waters
and Numbered. The wet fog struck